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Patrick Renames Ceremonial Guard Unit to Honor 54th Mass

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BOSTON — Gov. Deval Patrick participated in a State House ceremony on Friday marking the redesignation of the Massachusetts National Guard Ceremonial Unit as the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Regiment.

The unit was reorganized in honor of the state's famed 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, the first black regiment raised in the North during the Civil War and authorized by Gov. John Andrew in 1863. The regiment's best-known action was the charge on Battery Wagner in South Carolina, which killed its young leader Col. Robert Gould Shaw and saw the Medal of Honor awarded to Sgt. William Carney.


Photos courtesy governer's office

Gov. Deval Patrick awards campaign streamers Friday to Guard units for their duties in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo at a ceremony in Nurses Hall at the State House
The regiment was featured in the film "Glory" and memorialized in a bronze relief by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens a century ago.

The change was prompted by National Guard leader Maj. Gen. Joseph Carter, the first black to lead the Massachusetts National Guard, and designated by Patrick, the state's first black governor.

Patrick also awarded campaign streamers to 31 Massachusetts Army and Air National Guard units returning from service in Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo.
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Pittsfield Earns Road Win at Westfield in Little League Sectional

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
WESTFIELD, Mass. – Hector Reyes-Colon broke a scoreless tie with a monster home run in the fourth inning, and the Pittsfield Little League All-Stars went on to a 9-1 win over Westfield in the first game of the Section 1 Championship on Wednesday night.
 
Myles Morrison-Gould held Westfield scoreless for 4 and a third innings before Carmelo Coco and Thomas Lacatell finished up as Pittsfield advanced in the winners’ bracket and set up a Thursday date with Holden.
 
Morrison-Gould and Westfield’s Keegan Welch (four strikeouts, four innings pitched) were locked in a pitchers duel until Reyes-Colon stepped into the box with two out in the top of the fourth.
 
He hammered a 1-0 pitch deep over the center field fence to give Pittsfield a 1-0 lead, and the District 1 Championship never looked back.
 
“Hector was just trying to get a base hit there, so that was beautiful,” Pittsfield coach Joe Skutnik said.
 
Skutnik agreed that Reyes-Colon helped break the seal and propel Pittsfield to a five-run rally in the top of the fifth.
 
“That was the second time through the order, too,” he added. “So the second time through, I think we did a lot better job at the plate.”
 
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